WEDNESDAY 5 SEPTEMBER 2018

Sir Toby Curtis thanks the Minister of Education, Chris Hipkins, for his apology over his incorrect statements made to Parliament and the media last month regarding the charter schools (Wai 2770) claim currently before the Waitangi Tribunal.

The Minister wrote to Sir Toby yesterday after receiving fresh Crown Law advice that the government had in fact been served the Statement of Claim on 3 July. This followed several assertions by Sir Toby and the claimant group over the past fortnight that the Minister was wrong to state, in his replies to Parliamentary questions and media comments, that the Crown was still waiting to be served. The Minister advised in his letter that he intends to correct the Parliamentary record.

Sir Toby says, "I am grateful that the Minister has acknowledged his mistake and that of his legal advisors, and I sincerely thank him for his apology. Our Treaty Claim involves an important issue affecting Māori for generations to come, and it must be given the due care, respect and process it deserves. We hope that the Tribunal will now move swiftly to consider our Claim."

"In the meantime, we encourage the Minister and the Parliament to pause in making amendments to the Education Act that will affect partnership schools, changes which the Government is rushing through to a second reading in this current sitting. Please at least wait until the Tribunal has heard our claim,” he says.

"Together let's ensure the Minister doesn't make the much bigger mistake now of removing the rights of Māori to achieve fair and equitable access to education under the successful kura hourua model".

ENDS

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